Consultation closes on draft Local Alcohol Policy

Consultation on the draft Local
Alcohol Policy (LAP) closed yesterday, with a provisional
3,197 submissions received by the Council from individuals,
organisations, businesses and community groups.

The
Council is pleased with the huge number of submissions from
the Christchurch community in response to the draft policy,
which aims to minimise alcohol related harm in the city.
Staff are now processing the submissions they have
received.

"We are looking forward to reviewing all the
submissions and listening to people who have asked to speak
at hearings at the end of the month," Mayor Bob Parker
says.

"This truly must be a local policy that represents
the views of most people in our city. There has been a lot
of interest, with a number of varying opinions raised during
the consultation period. It is now our responsibility as
elected members to listen to what all sectors of the
community have said and come up with the best fit policy for
Christchurch."

Submitters who indicated they wanted to
speak at the whole of Council committee hearings, being
chaired by Councillor Sue Wells at the end of July, will be
contacted by Council staff to arrange their time slots.

Printed copies of all submissions will be given to
Councillors prior to the hearings, as well as a summary of
submissions received, to ensure they have enough time to
review these.

Key’s endorsement of English has turned this “contest” into a race for second place.

This succession was well planned. Lets not forget that English was told by Key in September of his intention to resign, and English was the only member of Cabinet entrusted with that information before it was sprung on everyone else on Monday morning. More>>

Latest: Judith Collins and Jonathan Coleman have withdrawn from the leadership race, leaving Bill English the only candidate to replace John Key as Prime Minister.

The New Zealand Dental Association is launching a new consensus statement on Sugary Drinks endorsed by key health organisations. The actions seek to reduce harm caused by sugary drinks consumption. More>>

The Government Communications Security Bureau wants to give internet service providers more information and power to block cyber threats which are increasing, its director told the intelligence and security select committee yesterday.. More>>

ALSO:

Labour: NCEA results for charter schools have been massively overstated... In one case a school reported a 93.3 per cent pass rate when the facts show only 6.7 per cent of leavers achieved NCEA level two. More>>

Following a complaint by Mr Leask, the Ombudsman found that the State Services Commission acted unreasonably in relation to Mr Leask and identified numerous deficiencies in the investigation process and in the publication of the final report and in the criticisms it contained of Mr Leask... More>>

NZEI: New Zealand had only held relatively steady in international rankings in some areas because the average achievement for several other OECD countries had lowered the OECD average -- not because our student achievement has improved. More>>

The resignation of John Key is one thing. The way that Key and his deputy Bill English have screwed the scrum on the leadership succession vote (due on December 12) is something else again. It remains to be seen whether the party caucus – ie, the ambitious likes of Steven Joyce, Judith Collins, Paula Bennett, and Amy Adams – will simply roll over... More>>